After the Concert
by Erin Salvatore
Summary: AU. In 1987, following the Bon Jovi concert they attend in Chicago, Lexi opens up to Stefan about the fiasco with Damon in New York ten years earlier.


**After the Concert**

**by Erin Salvatore**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing.**

_**Note: The idea for this one shot has been simmering in my head for the past several days now. It's a Stefan/Lexi friendship story that takes place just after the Bon Jovi concert they attended together in Chicago in 1987, and Lexi tells him about the fiasco in New York ten years earlier.**_

_**Don't ask, this is just something that I've been wanting to write but didn't quite know if it would sound as good written out as it did in my head. Anyway, let's get down to it.**_

_Chicago, 1987_

**S**tefan Salvatore was still feeling the effects of the concert he had just seen. The electricity in the air was just as fresh as it was during the performance, and he even found himself singing "Wanted Dead or Alive" under his breath. Yeah, he had a feeling that Bon Jovi was going to be as kick-ass in later years as it was tonight, especially since they had drawn quite a crowd.

However, Stefan noticed that Lexi had been awfully quiet since after the show ended. What the hell? She had a good time, didn't she? From the way she was dancing to the music, it looked like she was really having a blast, like she was one of the fans, so why was she so bummed out? He waited until they were about a block away from the stadium before he decided to say something.

"Lexi, are you okay? You're awfully quiet."

Lexi looked at her friend and sighed. "Actually, I'm not okay. I enjoyed the concert tonight, really, but there's something that I need to get off my chest. Something that's been burning a hole in my soul."

"Tell me," said Stefan. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, Lex."

"It's about your brother."

Stefan ran a hand through his hair. "What happened? What did he do?"

"Well, you know how you sent me to New York ten years ago to try and help him?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah, I remember. I told you that I was concerned about the way he was spiraling out of control and that I needed you to help him the way you've been helping me." He saw the look on her face. "I take it didn't go well?"

"That's putting it mildly," said Lexi. "Stefan, I'll be brutally honest with you. There's no helping your brother. Damon is a certified asshole, plain and simple. I can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped."

"That doesn't really answer my question, Lexi," said Stefan. "What did Damon do?"

"Okay, I'll tell you the gory details of my trip to New York," said Lexi. "But, I warn you, it's not a pretty story. I was trying to get Damon to enjoy his life so that he could get his humanity back. Well, for six months, he avoided me like the plague, killing people left and right. At one point, he was almost mistaken for Son of Sam. I finally did manage to catch up to him and that's when things got shot to hell. We were in this bar owned by Will, a vampire he was friends with, and we got drunk."

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Am I going to like where this is headed?"

"Just wait, I'm not to the worst part yet," said Lexi. "So, anyway, like I said, we got drunk and I mentioned Katherine, a subject that was still pretty touchy with Damon, since we both know how much in love he was with her. Then, he does something completely out of left field. He takes my face in his hands and he tells me that Katherine isn't the one he cares about, that it was me, and before I know it, he kisses me and we...brace yourself, start having sex."

"What?" said Stefan. "You and Damon had sex?"

Lexi nodded. "Mmhm. He took me on the bar, on the stage, on the tables, and even on the roof."

Stefan cringed at that. "Jesus, Lexi, what the hell is _wrong_ with you? I told you to _help_ Damon, not have sex with him!"

"It gets worse," said Lexi. "The next day, I find out that it was all a lie, that he never had his humanity back. He was faking it, and do you know what he did? He left me on the roof and I nearly burned to death in the sun."

Stefan didn't know what to think of all that after Lexi finished her story. He knew that Damon was capable of some nasty shit, including turning him into the Ripper of Monterey in 1912, but to trick his best friend into having sex with him? That was...he couldn't even describe it.

Lexi saw that he wasn't saying anything and said, "You see now why I think Damon is beyond help? I know you love him, Stefan, _and_ I know that your heart was in the right place, but really, Damon is going to do what he's going to do."

"I just don't want to lose him, you know?" said Stefan. "He's the only family I have left, and whether he knows it or not, he's made some bad decisions over the years, which only adds to the guilt I've had to live with since 1864."

"It's not your fault that he turned out the way he did," said Lexi. "He did that to himself."

"Doesn't make it hurt any less," he replied. "Damn it, I had to have a black sheep for a brother."

"We don't choose who our family is, Stefan," said Lexi. "I'd hate to put it _that_ way, but..."

"No, you're right," said Stefan. "I needed to hear it. I thought I was doing right by Damon, but I ended up being wrong. I turned him so that I didn't have to be a vampire alone, but look where that got me."

Lexi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey, come on, let's not spend the rest of the night wallowing in guilt. What do you say we go get a deep-dish pizza, huh? It's just as iconic to Chicago as the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich is to Philadelphia."

"Really?" said Stefan. "You want to get a _pizza_ at this hour?"

"Yeah, why not?" said Lexi. "Come on, we're vampires, remember? Time is something that doesn't _matter_ to us. Besides, it'll help us take our minds off of what we've been talking about."

Stefan forced a smile and offered Lexi his arm. When she took it, they went in search of a place that made the best deep-dish pizza.

**~ FIN**

_**Note: Like I said, this was simmering in my head for a while and I thought I'd share. Enjoy and let me know what you think!**_


End file.
